Van Oord has signed a contract with the Port of Tyne to establish a storage and foundation marshalling base for RWE’s 1400MW Sofia Offshore Wind Farm.
The site will be occupied from the fourth quarter of 2023, with the base operational from the first quarter of 2024, as Van Oord assists with the installation of turbine foundations for the wind farm located on Dogger Bank in the North Sea, 195km off the coast of the UK.
Van Oord will add to the growing clean energy cluster at the Tyne Clean Energy Park, which is already acting as the operations and maintenance (O&M) base for Equinor.
Van Oord’s new base will benefit from direct access to a deep-water quay and will use the Port of Tyne’s Tyne Clean Energy Park, which has recently benefitted from a £20m upgrade to its infrastructure.
Enabling works will get underway shortly 2023 to upgrade the quay strength to accommodate Van Oord’s foundation marshalling project.
Van Oord’s activities encompass the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the wind turbine foundations and inter-array cables for Sofia.
Sofia Offshore Wind Farm is now under construction and is expected to be fully operational in 2026.
The contract will see the River Tyne welcome the tallest offshore vessel in the port’s history.
Van Oord’s Aeolus is expected to arrive in January 2024, kicking off the marshalling operations, beginning an estimated 34 trips between the UK and Germany.
Matt Beeton (pictured), Chief Executive of Port of Tyne, said: “The Tyne Clean Energy Park continues to be the closest major offshore wind development platform for developers operating in the North Sea, as we look to accelerate the country’s green energy revolution to triple the rate of wind turbine installation to hit the national 2030 target, creating jobs for the future and a skilled workforce for generations to come.”
The redeveloped Bates Clean Energy Terminal at the Port of Blyth has been selected as the offshore construction base for Sofia, while Van Oord will also use Blyth as the location for the storage and mobilisation of inter-array cables for the offshore wind farm.